Re: Calcotes...Another Side of the Family
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In reply to:
Re: Calcotes...Another Side of the Family
Willie L Robinson 4/26/02
Dear Willie, Thank you for providing the information about Lubertha Fairman Porter and Elizabeth Black.However, I don't see any reasonable basis for the conclusion that Beth was the daughter of Susan Mitchell.Accepting as true the oral tradition that Beth was the daughter of a white woman and a black man, there is still no reasonable basis on which the conclusion can be drawn that Susan Mitchell was that woman.We know that Beth did not live out her childhood in their home, based on the census.Certainly, a white male slaveowner could confer the status of freedom on his mulatto child, as well as a white female slave owner, and the fact that she was living in the Mitchell home does not ipso facto lead to the conclusion that she must have been Susan's child.As I understand it, it was not uncommon for mulatto children to be sent to another home or another area, rather than live in the home of their parent, and I would think this would be especially true where the mother was a white parent and the father was black.Perhaps Beth was the child of one of Mitchell's sisters or cousins, one of Susan's sisters or cousins, or someone else altogether who sent her to live with the Mitchells to work as a servant in the home. All of these conclusions are equally valid under the mores of the time.I'm not trying to be unfair to Beth, but I think genealogy requires more of a factual basis than provided thus far to conclude that Susan was her mother.
More Replies:
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Re: Calcotes...Another Side of the Family
Willie L Robinson 5/03/02